


Under The Ice

by IntrovertedHappiness



Series: TAZ November Celebration [3]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Barry centric really, Discovery, Gen, Meet-Cute, Research, another meet cute? wow!, idk how to taggg, mermaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:22:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27480397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntrovertedHappiness/pseuds/IntrovertedHappiness
Summary: Barry had to find the merfolk that lived here. Hehadto. If he went back without anything, no one would ever believe him again.
Series: TAZ November Celebration [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2005177
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Under The Ice

Barry was freezing. The tips of his fingers were numb, even as he held them up near the fire. He was wearing as many layers as humanly possible. Next to him, Lucretia’s teeth were chattering, her hands shaking as she scribbled in her journal. Magnus, who was usually a walking radiator, had three blankets over his shoulders, sipping soup from his thermos.

It’ll be worth it, if things turn out the way they planned. Granted, this was the third night they had spent out in the cold, but it couldn’t be too long now. There had to be _something_ here! Just- just a trace or a hint- the flash of scales in the water, the vaguely humanoid speech pattern somewhere in the distance. There were things _here_ , under the ice, and Barry was determined to find it.

_Merfolk_ , other adventures and researchers claim. Merfolk, in the freezing cold water. Merfolk, warming on a rock. Merfolk, splashing each other with waves. Merfolk, and Barry had to find them because if he came back with no evidence, no one would ever believe in him again.

“I’m gonna go look again,” Barry said, grabbing the lantern. Stepping away from the fire was hard. Lucretia nodded, not looking up from her book.

“Come back if it gets too cold,” Magnus said and Barry murmured his agreement before heading out into the dark.

The ice hadn’t completely frozen over yet. As winter came closer, they were losing their chance to see the Merfolk with each day that passed. Barry trudged through the snow, holding the lantern out to illuminate the small path in front of him. He’s careful when stepping onto the ice- the edges are thick enough to hold his weight now, but anxiety often got the better of his mind and it was better to be safe than sorry.

The lantern cast shadows over the ground. He could barely see through the ice at this point. Barry pushed up his glasses and went a bit further in, slowly examining the ice for a shift of something. He got his hopes up a few times by seeing large fish below the surface, but it wasn’t right. He knew what Merfolk where supposed to look like. He had studied them the past thirty years of his life. He needed to find them, he need this-

The ice crackled below his feet. Barry stepped back as the ice he had just been standing up split. His lantern fell, cracking on the ice, glass splintering apart. The bulk of the object fell into the ocean and now he was just in the moonlight, with sharp glass at his feet, and no way to see any movement below.

“Fuck,” Barry said to himself. And then a louder, “ _Fuck_!” He grabbed at his hair, tugging at it in anger and anxiety. Idiot. _Idiot_! Now he’d have to find his way back to camp without any light and tell the others how stupidly he had messed up and-

Gods, he was tired.

Barry inched away from the ice, careful not to break it again. He had barely gotten to safe ground when there was a scraping and something hit the back of his leg. Barry jumped, spinning around, very nearly kicking over his lantern.

His _lantern_?!

It was lit again, the glass repaired like it had never broken. In amazement, Barry dropped to his knees. It was… perfect. Looked brand new, even! With shaking hands, Barry picked it up, examining it at all angles. The scuff marks from previous expeditions were gone. The flame was real and warm. It flickered in place, glinting off of the glass. Barry pushed his glasses up, eyes wide.

His heart was pounding as he stood up again. He moved back towards where the ice had split. The glass that had shattered was gone. Not daring to breath, Barry felt around for anything heavy in his pocket. He found his phone and (stupidly) slammed it against the glass of the lantern. The glass shattered again and he dropped the lantern into the water again with a splash, extinguishing the flame.

And he waited. And he waited.

A light glowed from the water below. It rose up and up, as if being pushed back to the surface. The pieces of glass at Barry’s feet trembled and fell into the crack, compelled towards the light. Barry got on his knees, shaking wildly now, and peered in.

The lantern popped out to meet him.

And then _something else_ popped out as well.

She was… _wow_. Wow, wow, _wow_. That’s the only word that Barry could think of to describe the Mermaid in front of him. Her skin looked rubbery and was colored with oranges and reds. Her hair seemed to be luminescent, glowing blond like some sort of- of sun goddess. Her eyes- beautiful, stunning, Barry only looked away when he remembered that Merfolk could hypnotize people.

“You’re real,” he whispered and to his surprise, the mermaid spoke at the exact same time, almost in sync with him.

“I knew it,” she said, in a hushed, amazed voice. “Greg Grimaldis owes me _fifteen fuckin’ dollars_!”

**Author's Note:**

> another TAZ November celebration prompt. i'd love any comments and kudos :O!! find me @ barry-j-blupjeans on tumblr!


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